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ITD motel to be demolished in training exercise

The Lakeside Inn, located on a two-acre site near Sand Creek in northern Idaho, will be the target of terrorist attack in early November. Its walls will crumble and roof will collapse, creating a pile of rubble.

Five weeks of emergency preparedness training will culminate in the destruction of the two-story wood structure. The Idaho Transportation Department recently acquired the motel property and planned to raze the building as part of the Sand Creek Byway project in Sandpoint.

The building’s demise is a perfect fit for an extensive training exercise presented by Idaho State university’s Institute of Emergency Management in cooperation with the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security (IBHS).

Operation ROAD TRIP (Readiness Operations And Defense to Train Rural Idaho in Preparedness) will bring as many as 600 Idaho first responders together for real-world training. It will begin late this month and conclude in early November with demolition of the motel.

In the interim, the ISU institute will coordinate a five-week, multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional project that trains first responders for a Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) mass-casualty incident.

“The planned demolition of the Lakeside Inn provides a unique training opportunity for Idaho first responders,” explains Bill Bishop, IBHS director. “What could be better than having first responders practice the skills they have learned in the classroom through realistic exercises?”

The training is available to first responders and other emergency personnel throughout Idaho at no cost. Registration, travel, lodging and daily expenses are reimbursed through Homeland Security funds. Qualified participants include law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical service providers, urban search and rescue volunteers, hazardous materials responders, emergency management personnel and public information officers.

Students will alternate between classroom training and exercises staged at the motel. They will have an opportunity to participate in a full-scale exercise that tests their knowledge and requires them to work cooperatively through the exercise scenario.

The first session, Sept. 24 to Oct. 1 will be for law enforcement officers.

Emergency medical service providers will train from Oct. 1 to Oct. 9, followed by Haz-mat training Oct. 8-15, firefighting Oct. 11-24, urban search and rescue Oct. 25-28 and public information officers Sept. 27-Oct. 1 and Oct. 11-15.

A joint exercise is planned Oct. 29-30.

Goals of the five-week series include: